Kevin Keating
ELIZABETHVILLE - Call it fate.
Or destiny.
Those monikers fit.
The best way to describe Upper Dauphin, though, is Twin Valley Conference champion.
Cody Hoffman took a sweep around the left end and skirted down the sideline 33 yards into the end zone for the game-winning score with 2:57 left as Upper Dauphin won its first conference title since 1989 with a 28-22 win Friday over Tri-Valley at Trojan Stadium.
The victory completes a 180-degree turn around for an Upper Dauphin program that went 1-9 just two seasons ago.
"I can't even explain it," Upper Dauphin running back Tyler Grosser said. "This is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me."
Tri-Valley (6-4, 4-3 TVC) had a chance in the waning seconds, but the Trojan defense stood tall to force a turnover on downs after the Dawgs missed a golden opportunity to even the score on pass where a wide-open receiver slipped on the turf and the pass fell incomplete.
When head coach Carm DeFrancesco took over the program three years ago, he inherited a team that went 0-10 the season before.
"It's remarkable," DeFrancesco said. "It's a culmination of a bunch of football players without a program, a coach without a job ... We got together. It was fate."
Fate or not, things played out the way the Trojans (9-1, 7-1 TVC) wanted them to after a sprinting start by both teams that saw 21 points scored in the first seven minutes of the game.
A 74-yard pitch-and-catch from Upper Dauphin quarterback Ty Koppenhaver to Ty Raubenstine set up Koppenhaver's 1-yard sneak less than three minutes into the game.
Tri-Valley responded 2½ minutes later, when Wyatt Straub (20-129) sprinted 35 yards into the end zone.
The Trojans answered just 2:33 later on a 16-yard run by Hoffman.
Tri-Valley evened the score once again just 42 seconds into the second quarter as Straub completed a nine-play, 59-yard drive with a 6-yard run to knot the game at 14.
Defenses clamped down until the Trojans finally broke through with 8:57 left in the contest. Koppenhaver finished a nine-play, 44-yard drive with a 1-yard sneak, and DeFrancesco gambled with a 2-point conversion attempt.
That gamble paid off as Grosser busted through off the right side to give the Trojans a 22-14 lead.
"This game is not for the faint of heart," DeFrancesco said. "Our kids know they have a coaching staff that believes in them."
Tri-Valley answered after a muffed punt gave the Dawgs possession at the Upper Dauphin 8. Straub went 7 yards and McGinley finished the drive with a sneak.
Straub's conversion pass to Matt Hepler was good to tie the score at 22 with 5:53 left.
"Two very good football teams, with two great efforts," Tri-Valley coach Mike Kogut said. "I think we had our chances. Not to take anything away from Upper Dauphin. They're a great football team."
Upper Dauphin struck again on its next drive, going 72 yards on six plays. Koppenhaver hit Raubenstine for a 21-yard pickup to set up the winning score. Raubenstine finished with three catches and 101 yards.
Hoffman finished the drive with his 33-yard run around the left end, and DeFrancesco gambled again. This time, the 2-point conversion run was stuffed just shy of the goal line by the Dawgs.
"We just have so much confidence in the running game," DeFrancesco said. "They stuffed it."
Tri-Valley took possession at its own 43 and drove to the Upper Dauphin 25 with the aid of a facemask penalty on a fourth-down stop.
It caused some moments of consternation on the Trojan sideline, but not with the players.
"To be honest, no," said Cody Cooper, when asked if any doubts entered his mind. "I knew we were going to pull it out. We've worked toward this night our whole lives."
The Trojans came up with one final stop to finish off the Dawgs and claim their first TVC title since 1989.
"From where we came from, we rose from the ashes," Cooper said. "Coming from nothing ... coming from a 1-9 season to win a league championship."
Added DeFrancesco: "I'm just so happy to call Upper Dauphin champions."
Both the Trojans and Dawgs have district playoff contests to shift their attentions to now.
A game like the one the teams played Friday could only help both.
"Coach (Jeremy) Erdman brought that up," Kogut said. "Games like this will prepare you for the playoffs. We can take some positives from that."
NOVEMBER 7, 2009 REPUBLICAN HERALD SPORTS LINKS
Football
Pottsville falls to Wyomissing
Hamburg downs Schuylkill Valley
Tamaqua dominates Marian
Shenandoah beats Mahanoy for 10th consecutive year
Panther Valley shuts out Minersville
Williams Valley smokes Nativity
Line Mountain tops Pine Grove
Cross Country
Carroll places 12th at PIAA cross country meet